For All the Right Reasons:

• Quality of Life
• Personal Safety
• Health
• Nutrition
• Occupational Safety
• Early Intervention

The senses of smell and taste monitor the intake into the body of all nutrients and airborne chemicals required for life. These senses provide a warning for toxic fumes, smoke, leaking natural gas, spoiled food, and dangerous environments. Importantly, they determine the flavor and palatability of foods and beverages, and provide a vast array of aesthetic delights.

Unlike vision and hearing, smell and taste testing is not routinely performed by physicians, the government, the school system, or employers. This is in spite of the fact that decreased chemosensation, particularly smell loss, can be very debilitating, placing an individual, as well as coworkers, at risk in many occupations (e.g., chemical manufacturing, nuclear plant maintenance, fire fighting, police work, plumbing, aviation, nautical engineering and maintenance, and many military and industrial situations). Those who work in hazardous environments or in situations where smell warning is essential should be evaluated regularly. Such testing can be employed to transfer people with dysfunction to jobs in which decreased smell function has no major safety consequences. Smell loss can be an early sign of some diseases. Sensonics’ tests can be used to detect smell loss but cannot be used alone to diagnose disease.